Electric vehicle (EV) adoption has hit record highs. According to car sales reports for the first quarter of 2017, sales of EVs of all types were up 89% in March and 74% in the first quarter, with fully electric cars showing the greatest gains. At that time, EVs made up 1.2% of all U.S. car sales, a new record for the U.S. EV market. EVs are also popular worldwide.
EVs rely on batteries that periodically need to be charged. Electricity is the new fuel for fleets to manage. Electricity has historically been only a bill or departmental allocation for fleet managers. Now, it must be managed like other fuels. To date, however, there has not been a systematic approach to manage electricity as fuel.
The dynamics of managing electricity as fuel are that delivery and pricing are much different than standard fuels. The electrical infrastructure is already part of a facility's power source, so metering and control for just EVs must be separated from the rest of the power. Electrical power has daily and seasonal pricing differences: summer versus winter rates, and demand charges that are usually based on 15-minute assessments of the peak demand can be a significant part of the utility bill.
A systematic approach to managing electricity as fuel would provide a number of advantages. For example, usage and costs could be closely monitored and controlled, so that performance of the charging system and EVs can be measured, and areas where improvements may be made can be identified.